Designing a home for the future you

Is your home a temple to your past, or a page on which to write your next chapter? If you’re embarking on an interiors project and following the prevailing mood in design, you are most probably layering colour, texture and “story” into your rooms. But are the stories built around memories and artefacts you’ve been clinging onto, or are they preparing the ground for the future you?

“Often people’s homes are museums to who they’ve been,” says Olga Naiman, who is making waves in the US with the psychology-based design theories laid out in her recent book Spatial Alchemy: Design Your Home to Transform Your Life. “There’s nothing wrong with having some history in your home. It’s natural to have family photos, keepsakes and heirlooms that have been passed down. But is the space resonating with who you are becoming, or is it holding you in psychological patterns that aren’t serving you? We’re so familiar with our spaces that we can’t always see what’s holding us back.”

Naiman firmly believes that our homes hold sway over how we behave and who we become. It’s not a new idea – her book opens with a celebrated quote by British former prime minister Winston Churchill, delivered when the bombed House of Commons was being rebuilt to a plan that would encourage frank face-to-face debate: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”

Today, it chimes more loudly than ever. Design therapy is evolving as a discipline that fosters this human-centric approach, exploring spatial and environmental psychology alongside sensory and biophilic design to enhance mental wellbeing and personal growth. Long present in commercial and public settings, it is now being applied to the home with growing enthusiasm.

“Often spaces are organised around past roles or identities,” says Michelle Ogundehin. An interiors guru and former editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration UK, she now offers home therapy diagnostic consultations. “I look at how a client’s home currently supports – or obstructs – where they’re heading. That might mean reassigning rooms, redefining zones or creating visible space for a new pursuit. If you say you want to write but there is nowhere to write, your environment contradicts you. Space is commitment made visible.”

Naiman’s approach is deeply rooted in psychology. She grew up a Ukrainian refugee with psychiatrist parents in the US, then went on to study clinical psychology, followed by design at Central Saint Martins in London. Influenced by Carl Jung and the teachings of the Kabbalah alongside cutting-edge western aesthetics, her philosophy divides design into four layers: beauty and function (the visible strata), followed by the subtler layers of psychology (how a space affects your psyche and sense of self-worth) and manifestation. “Our home becomes a laboratory of call and response,” she says. “If you are consistently tweaking, moving and recognising, then things start to happen in your life. And that’s where it gets kind of mystical and interesting.”

That mystical layer rests on symbolism. Naiman encourages clients to choose artwork and objects that physically embody the characteristics they wish to cultivate. If you need more stability, avoid fragile side tables and furniture with spindly legs – think solid, grounded pieces. “Does the gold rococo mirror handed down from your great-aunt resonate with who you’re becoming?” she asks. “If you want more lightness in your life, it’s perfect – keep it in the foyer. But if your problem is too much frivolity, that kooky mirror is what you see every time you cross your threshold. It’s reflecting your biggest problem back at you.”

Ogundehin offers her own practical framework for change. She suggests starting with allocation: even a modest defined zone signals priority, and if something has no physical footprint in your home, it rarely gains traction in your life. Next, clear away outdated narratives: excess furniture, unused equipment, objects tied to chapters that have closed. “Space creates psychological bandwidth,” she says. Then design deliberately: materials that calm rather than overstimulate, lighting that supports both focus and rest, colour that reflects the energy you want to cultivate. Finally, introduce what she calls “directional anchors”: artwork or objects that point forwards rather than back.

The question, as Ogundehin frames it, is a simple one: if your home were a silent partner in your life, what would it currently be encouraging? And what would need to change for it to support the person you are becoming now?

All images from Spatial Alchemy: Design Your Home to Transform Your Life by Olga Naiman (Artisan), photographed by Melanie Acevedo and Lesley Unruh